In many environments, there is a need to repeatedly load relatively large volumes of materials into a storage compartment. The collection of waste or refuse materials is a good example of one such environment, where the ability to efficiently load large volumes of materials in relatively short periods of time is often sought-after objective.
In one common type of waste collection system, waste materials are loaded into the rear hopper of a large waste collection container carried by a truck. Rear loading assemblies are provided to periodically transfer the waste materials collected in the hopper into the main body of the container.
Such rear loader assemblies have traditionally been designed for hand loading operation. In this arrangement, waste materials are accumulated by households in individual bags. A refuse crew picks up these bags and places them into the rear hopper of the collection vehicle. The rear loading mechanism is then cycled to dump or pack the bags into the body of the collection container.
Because they are designed for conventional hand loading operation, these traditional rear loader assemblies typically are situated relatively low to the ground to be more readily accessible to the hand loading refuse crew. The volume capacity of the hopper is often sacrificed to accommodate the relatively low loading height of these traditional assemblies.
Furthermore, because these assemblies are designed for hand loading operations by a refuse crew, the cycle time required to pack the bags of waste materials in the hopper into the collection container is not an overly important design criteria, as long as the packing mechanism can keep ahead of the normal refuse crew.
Hand loading is a labor intensive and often uneconomical method of collecting waste materials, particularly in areas of large population density. Accordingly, the use of waste collection containers for curbside pickup is becoming more and more widespread. In this system, waste material is accumulated by a household in specially designed plastic or metal containers. The refuse crew empties the contents of these containers into the hopper of the collection vehicle using specially designed lift assemblies. By using these containers, larger volumes of waste materials can be collected by a refuse crew in a given period of time, compared to conventional hand loading operation.
Specially designed lift assemblies have been designed to facilitate the collection of waste materials in these containers. An example of one such lift assembly is the Zoller Rear Loader Lift. This lift assembly is generally shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings accompanying this specification.
These specially designed lift assemblies require a relatively high dumping height, when compared to the conventional loading height of hand loading systems. The loading height of conventional rear packing assemblies must therefore be raised to accommodate these specially designed lift assemblies. Yet, even then, the relatively slow packing cycle of the assemblies designed for hand loading is not fast enough to keep up with the increased volume demands of the collection container system.
One objective of this invention is to provide an assembly for loading materials into a storage compartment that maximizes the density of the refuse in the body. This arrangement enhances the cost effectiveness of collection and loading operations.
Another objective of this invention is to provide an efficient high capacity loading assembly that is compact and readily adaptable for use in association with a chassis-mounted collection system, where tare weight and weight distribution considerations are important.
Still another objective of this invention is to provide an efficient high capacity loading assembly that employs a minimum of moving parts and is capable of smooth and maintenance-free operation in a rugged working environment.
Yet another objective of this invention is to provide an efficient high capacity loading assembly with an expedited packing cycle time capable of accommodating the collection and loading of large volumes of materials per unit of time.